In Newport News, looking at the money in a competitive House district

Looking at the early money in that #VaPolitics rarity -- a competitive General Assembly race

So far, the Peninsula is seeing only two contested races for the General Assembly, now that Lara Overy has announced she'll challenge Del. Monty Mason, D-Williamsburg.

But Shelly Simonds threw her hat in the ring back in September to challenge Del. David Yancey, R-Newport News, so Shad Plank decided to take a look at what's been happening in the earliest phases of campaigning -- which, of course, is all about fundraising and organization building.

Simonds raised $25,120 since announcing. Considering that the Newport News district is one of the most competitive in the state, there's not been a lot of big party money flowing in yet.

In fact of the 14 donors who have kicked in $500 or more to her race, the only big Democratic donors are Newport News layer Bobby Hatten, who gave $2,500, Virginia Beach investor Paul Hirschbiel, who gave $1,000, former Newport News Mayor Joe Frank, who gave $500, and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, which gave $500.

With the exception of attorney Lynne Fiscella, all the rest are making their very first donations to any campaign, according to the data compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.

Yancey, meanwhile, raised $90,766 during the last six months of 2014. His biggest donor is Speaker Bill Howell's political action committee, which gave $7,500. House Majority Leader Kirk Cox's PAC gave $4,000. His biggest local donor was the nursing home group Virginia Health Services, which gave $3,000.

Like many incumbents, he's also received donations from interest groups, including the bankers (for $2,500), wine and beer wholesalers ($1,500 each) and Dominion Resources ($1,000).

Yancey this year joined the Commerce and Labor Commtitee, which handles a wide range of business issues -- and whose members are generally among the legislature's top fundraisers.

Going forward, once the General Assembly session ends and it is legal to give donations to legislators, watching how and from whom the money this summer could give an early hint as to how hard this year's race will be run.